Vietnam's Ministry of Health announced on November 16 that a local man suspected of having been re-infected after recovering from Covid-19 two months ago has tested negative for the virus.

According to the latest announcement by the ministry, the result of another PCR test of the man, coded as Patient No.1,032, who had previously tested re-positive for Covid-19 was negative. The Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the Hanoi's Centre for Disease Control also confirmed the test result.

Patient No.1,032, who had previously tested re-positive for Covid-19 was negative. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn

The patient is a 21-year-old Vietnamese resident of Cau Giay district in Hanoi. He returned from Russia as an overseas student on August 8 and was quarantined upon arrival.

The young man tested positive for the coronavirus on August 25 and underwent treatment at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases between August 25 and September 17.

During treatment, he had his samples taken for testing seven times. Of those, the results of six tests between August 30 and September 15 were negative. The only one positive was the one analyzed on August 26.

The recovered Covid-19 patient stayed home for two more weeks, wearing a face mask when he had contact with his family and girlfriend during this period.

He resumed his study at Hanoi University after finishing the two-week home isolation. In the classrooms, he was sitting two meters apart from his classmates but without wearing a facemask. He did not go to public areas or attend crowded activities.

On November 7, the young man developed a fever and went to Hanoi Transport Hospital where he was diagnosed with a viral fever. He was then allowed to go home for self-care.

However, he went to the same hospital after developing a fever of 39 degrees Celsius and fatigue on November 14. At this time, the infirmary took his sample for a real-time PCR test, the result of which came back positive for Covid-19 at the Vietnam National Children's Hospital in Hanoi in the next day, almost two months after his discharge from hospital.

Soon after receiving the test result, the municipal Center for Disease Control conducted an investigation to identify those who had close contact with the student.

At least 25 people including three relatives, his girlfriend, 20 medical workers in the hospital and one resident in Dong Da district were exposed to the student. The Hanoi CDC has been tracing further contact.

Vietnam has gone 75 straight days without locally acquired Covid-19 cases. However, people are advised to stay vigilant and anyone who has any symptoms needs to get tested and isolate until having confirmatory results.